Convertible vehicle uni-body having an internal supplemental support structure

ABSTRACT

A vehicle body includes an underbody having one or more underbody bolting flanges attached thereto, with each underbody bolting flange being adapted for bolted attachment to a mating bodyside bolting flange. Left and right bodyside subassemblies are joined to the underbody, with each bodyside including a supplemental bodyside support structure having attached thereto one or more bodyside bolting flanges, with each bodyside bolting flange being adapted for bolted attachment to one of the underbody bolting flanges after the bodyside subassemblies are otherwise joined to the underbody. The underbody bolting flanges are attached to supplemental cross members that are attached to and extend across the underbody.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/765,259, filed Jan. 26, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,351 whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/503,645, filed Sep. 17, 2003.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to vehicles having a body-in-white in the form ofa uni-body, and more particularly providing a uni-body, body-in-white,having an internal supplemental support structure that can be assembledinto the uni-body on a conventional uni-body assembly line with commonmanufacturing techniques.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The backbone of vehicles such as automobiles, light trucks, vans, andrecreation vehicles is a structure known in the automotive industry as abody-in-white. The body-in-white (BIW) is the skeletal structure orshell to which various subsystems are subsequently attached. Thesesubsystems may include an engine and drive train, suspension and wheels,interior trim and seating components, and exterior ornamentation.

In the BIW of many modern vehicles, numerous structural andnon-structural panels are joined together, to form a self-supporting,unitary, structural shell known as a uni-body. The uni-body eliminatesthe need for having a separate structural frame, as is required intraditional body-on-frame construction.

Uni-body construction is well suited to the BIW of a vehicle having ahard-top roof structure, such as a sedan or a coupe. In such a vehicle,the roof provides a substantial portion of the structural strength andstiffness of the uni-body that is available for joining the engine andsuspension components at the front of the vehicle to the rearsuspension.

In vehicles such as convertibles or roadsters, however, having asoft-top or no top, or in vehicles where a significant portion of thetop is removable, the remaining portion of the uni-body must includesufficient additional structure to provide a uni-body that is strongenough and stiff enough to withstand the static and dynamic loadsincident with operation of the vehicle. In the BIW of such vehicles, thenumber and material gage of the individual components of the uni-bodymust often be more than doubled in certain critical areas to achieve therequired structural strength and stiffness of the uni-body. Adding thesecomponents, and increasing the material thickness, undesirably increasesthe cost, weight and complexity of the uni-body BIW of the vehicle, andcan require that the assembly procedures on an assembly line be alteredconsiderably for accommodating vehicles without hard-top roofstructures.

What is needed is an improved architecture and method for producing auni-body, body-in-white, providing the additional structural strengthand stiffness required in certain types of vehicles, such asconvertibles, roadsters, and vehicles where a significant portion of anotherwise hard-top roof are removable, that can be assembled on aconventional uni-body assembly line with common manufacturingtechniques.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Our invention provides an improved uni-body, body-in-white, for avehicle and a method for producing such an improved vehicle body,meeting the requirements discussed above, through use of a supplementalsupport structure that is attached to an underbody and the bodyside of avehicle body, prior joining the bodyside to the underbody. Thesupplemental support structure has bolted joints that are completedafter the bodyside is joined to the underbody by conventionaltechniques, such as spot welding, so that a vehicle body including thesupplemental support structure can be assembled on the same assemblyline as other vehicle bodies that do not include the supplementalsupport structure, with little or no change in the assembly sequence forthe vehicle body.

In one form of our invention, a vehicle body includes an underbody and abodyside joined to the underbody. The underbody includes one or moreunderbody bolting flanges attached thereto, with each underbody boltingflange being adapted for bolted attachment to a mating bodyside boltingflange. The bodyside includes a supplemental bodyside support structurehaving attached thereto one or more bodyside bolting flanges, with eachbodyside bolting flange being adapted for bolted attachment to one ofthe underbody bolting flanges.

The bodyside may include a bodyside subassembly, with the supplementalbodyside support structure including tabs extending therefrom forattaching the supplemental bodyside support structure to the bodysidesubassembly. Where the bodyside includes a bodyside subassemblycomprising a sill joining a forward standing pillar to an aft standingpillar, the forward and aft standing pillars both extending upward fromthe sill, and a quarter panel extending from the aft pillar toward therear end of the vehicle body, the supplemental bodyside supportstructure may include a supplemental sill member joining a forwardsupplemental pillar member to an aft supplemental pillar member, theforward and aft supplemental pillar members extending upward from thesupplemental sill member, and a quarter panel supplemental supportmember extending along the quarter panel from the aft supplementalpillar member of the supplemental bodyside support structure toward therear end of the vehicle body.

The underbody of a vehicle body, according to our invention, may includeone or more supplemental underbody cross members having an underbodybolting flange attached thereto. One or more of the supplementalunderbody cross members may include tabs extending therefrom forattaching the supplemental cross member to the underbody.

In a vehicle body for a convertible, wherein the bodyside includes abodyside subassembly comprising a sill joining a hinge pillar to aB-pillar, an A-pillar extending upward from the hinge pillar, and aquarter panel defining a beltline extending from the B-pillar to aD-pillar area defined by the quarter panel, the supplemental bodysidesupport structure may include a sill member joining a hinge pillarmember to a B-pillar member, an A-pillar member extending upward fromthe hinge pillar member, and a quarter panel member extending along thebeltline from the B-pillar member of the supplemental bodyside supportstructure to the D-pillar area. Where the underbody of the vehicle bodyfor the convertible includes a dash subassembly, a kick-up subassembly,and a rear seat bulkhead subassembly, a vehicle body according to ourinvention may include a dash supplemental cross member attached to thedash subassembly, a kick-up supplemental cross member attached to thekick-up subassembly, and a rear seat bulkhead supplemental cross memberattached to the rear seat bulkhead.

The supplemental bodyside support structure, and supplemental crossmembers of a vehicle body according to our invention may be fabricatedas simple, light weight and inexpensive generally tubular structures,and be placed in locations that are both completely hidden by final trimof the vehicle and do not interfere with or require changing thelocation or configuration of any other subsystem attached to vehiclebody.

Our invention may also take the form of a method for producing a vehiclebody, according to our invention, as described above or in thesubsequent detailed description.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of our invention willbecome further apparent from the following detailed description ofexemplary embodiments, read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrativeof our invention rather than limiting, the scope of the invention beingdefined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is perspective representation of a vehicle body, according to ourinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective representation of a supplemental supportstructure that is incorporated into the vehicle body of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3-5 are perspective views showing supplemental cross members ofFIG. 2 attached to various components of the vehicle body of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 6-8 are perspective views of an underbody of the vehicle body ofFIG. 1, showing the cross members and components of FIGS. 3-5 attachedto the remainder of the underbody; and

FIGS. 9 and 10 are a perspective views showing various aspects of abodyside subassembly and a supplemental bodyside support structure,according to our invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of pertinent portions of avehicle body 10 for a convertible vehicle, fabricated as a uni-body,body-in-white (BIW). The vehicle body 10 includes an underbody 12, aleft bodyside subassembly 14, and a right bodyside subassembly 16. Theunderbody 12 includes a dash subassembly 18, a kick-up subassembly 20,and a rear seat bulkhead subassembly 22. In a typical assembly procedureon an assembly line, the underbody 12 and the left and right bodysidesubassemblies 14, 16 are brought together, positioned relative to oneanother, and joined by spot welding the bodyside subassemblies 14, 16 tothe underbody 12 at a number of points along various junctures betweenthe bodyside subassemblies 14, 16 and the underbody 12.

FIGS. 2-10 collectively show various aspects of an exemplary embodimentof our invention in which a supplemental body support structure 24, asshown in FIG. 2, is incorporated into the vehicle body 10 of FIG. 1, toprovide an improved vehicle body 10, according to our invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the supplemental body support structure 24 includesleft and right supplemental bodyside support structures 26, 28, that arejoined by bolted connections 25, as described in more detail below, to adash supplemental cross member 30, a kick-up supplemental cross member32, and a rear seat bulkhead supplemental cross member 34.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3-5, the supplemental cross members 30, 32, 34each include an elongated central element 36, and an underbody boltingflange 38 attached to each end of the central section 36. It isanticipated that it will generally be preferable to fabricate thecentral section 36 of the cross members 30-34 from a straight length oftubing, having a relatively thin wall, and fabricate the underbodybolting flanges 38 from plate material having a substantial thickness,on the order of ¼ inch for bolting flanges 38 made of mild steel, forexample. In some embodiments of our invention, however, it may bedesirable to use non-tubular and non-straight material for forming thecentral section 36 of one or more of the supplemental cross members30-34.

The supplemental cross members 30-34 also include a number of tabs 40extending from the central sections 36 of the supplemental cross members30-34, for attaching the dash, kick-up, and rear seat bulkheadsupplemental cross members 30-34, respectively, to the dash, kick-up,and rear seat bulkhead subassemblies 18, 20, 22, as shown in FIGS. 3through 5, by spot welding the tabs 40 on the dash, kick-up, and rearseat bulkhead supplemental cross members 30-34, respectively, to thedash, kick-up, and rear seat bulkhead subassemblies 18, 20, 22. Thedash, kick-up, and rear seat bulkhead subassemblies 18, 20, 22, with thedash, kick-up, and rear seat bulkhead supplemental cross members 30-34,respectively attached thereto, are then assembled into the underbody 12,as shown in FIGS. 6 through 8.

As described above the supplemental cross members 30-34 of the exemplaryembodiment include a central section 36 formed from a straight length ofmaterial. As shown, in FIG. 1, the vehicle body 10 defines a centrallongitudinal plane Y-Y extending from the front end 44 to the rear end46 of the vehicle body 10, and three transverse axes 42 extendingtransversely across the underbody 12, in a direction perpendicular tothe central longitudinal plane Y-Y. The straight central sections 36 ofthe cross members 30-34 in the exemplary embodiment of the vehicle body10 are attached to the underbody with central sections 36 of thesupplemental cross members 30-34 aligned with the transverse axes 42, toextend transversely across the underbody 12, in a directionperpendicular to the central longitudinal plane Y-Y extending from thefront end 44 to the rear end 46 of the vehicle body 10.

The left and right bodyside subassemblies 14, 16 are each fabricatedfrom four separate sheet metal components. FIG. 9 shows the fourcomponents 16A-16D that are joined together to form the right bodysidesubassembly 16 shown in FIG. 10. The left bodyside subassembly 14 isconstructed in similar fashion.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the bodyside subassemblies, 14, 16, (ofwhich only the right bodyside subassembly 16 is shown) each include asill 48 joining a forward standing pillar, in the form or a hinge pillar50, to an aft standing pillar, in the form of a B-pillar 52. An A-pillar54 extends upward from the hinge pillar 50. A quarter panel 56 of thebodyside subassemblies 14, defines a beltline, generally indicated at58, extending toward the rear end 46 of the vehicle body 10 from theB-pillar 52, to a D-pillar area, generally indicated at 60.

The terms A-pillar, B-pillar, and D-pillar area are used herein in theircustomary sense to signify the general location of a standing pillarwith respect to the front end 44 of the vehicle body 10, or the area ofthe bodyside subassemblies 14, 16 that would be associated with thegeneral location of four standing pillars designated A through D,starting from the windshield, on a vehicle, such as a typical stationwagon, that would normally include four standing pillars for supportinga hard-top roof structure.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 9 and 10, the left and right supplemental bodysidesupport structures 26, 28 each include a sill member 62 joining aforward standing pillar member, in the form of a hinge pillar member 64,to an aft standing pillar, in the form of a B-pillar member 66. AnA-pillar member 68 extends upward from the hinge pillar member 64, and aquarter panel member 70 extends along the beltline 58 from the B-pillarmember 66 of each of the supplemental bodyside support structure 26, 28to the D-pillar area 60. The supplemental bodyside support structures26, 28 each also include a number of tabs 72, extending from thesupplemental bodyside support structures 26, 28, as shown in FIGS. 2, 9and 10, for attaching the left and right supplemental bodyside supportstructures 26, 28, respectively, to the left and right bodysidesubassemblies 14, 16, as shown in FIG. 10, by a process such as spotwelding.

The supplemental bodyside support structures 26, 28 each also includethree bodyside bolting flanges 74 positioned for mating engagement withthe underbody bolting flanges 38 of the three supplemental cross members30-34. The bodyside bolting flanges 74 adapted to mate with theunderbody bolting plate on the dash subassembly 18, are each mounted onthe distal end of a short arm 76 cantilevered from the hinge pillars 64of the left and right supplemental bodyside support structures 26, 28.

It is anticipated that it will generally be preferable to fabricate thecentral supplemental bodyside support structures 26, 28 from tubing,having a relatively thin wall, and to fabricate the bodyside boltingflanges 74 from plate material having a substantial thickness, on theorder of ¼ inch for bolting flanges 74 made of mild steel, for example.In some embodiments of our invention, however, it may be desirable touse thick-wall tubing, or non-tubular, solid material for forming partor all of the supplemental bodyside support structures 26, 28.

It is also anticipated that the underbody and bodyside bolting flanges38, 74 incorporate oversized holes for receiving bolts 78, as shown inFIG. 7, for integrally attaching the supplemental bodyside supportstructures 26, 28 to the supplemental cross members 30-34, after thebodyside subassemblies 14, 16, are joined, by spot welding for example,to the underbody 12. The oversized holes allow the bodyside assemblies14, 16 to be precisely positioned with respect to the underbody 12 forwelding operations, and still allow the bolts 78 to be inserted throughthe holes despite any misalignment of the holes that may exist after thebodyside subassemblies 14, 16 are spot welded, or otherwise joined tothe underbody 12.

It is further anticipated that mating pairs of underbody and bodysidebolting flanges 38, 74 be configured to mate along faying surfaces thatlie in an offset plane extending parallel to the central longitudinalplane Y-Y. Preferably, all of the bolting flanges 38, 74 on each side ofthe vehicle body 10 would be configured to mate along the same offsetplane. By having all of the bolting flanges mate in this fashion, thebolting plates 38, 74 can be used for setting the cross-car position ofthe bodyside subassemblies 14, 16, and to facilitate positioning thebodyside subassemblies 14, 16 in the proper location along, and up anddown with respect to, the underbody 12, for joining of the bodysidesubassemblies 14, 16 to the underbody 12.

The bodyside bolting flanges 74 and underbody bolting flanges 38 arepreferably configured and located so that the bolts 78 can be installedafter the bodysides 14, 16 are joined to the underbody 12. The completedvehicle body 10 may be painted either prior to, or after bolting thebodyside bolting flanges 74 to the underbody bolting flanges 38, tominimize changes in assembly line procedures required for implementingour invention.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that a vehicle body 10, andthe method of our invention provide significant advantages over theprior art. A vehicle body 10 according to our invention can beconstructed from fewer parts, than previous bodies 10 suitable for usein vehicles such as convertibles that need to have additional strengthand stiffness added to a uni-body, and can be built on an assembly lineused for other types of vehicle bodies with little of no modification tothe assembly line configuration and procedures. A supplemental supportstructure 24, according to our invention may also be inobtrusivelyincorporated into a vehicle body 10 below existing interior trim, andwithout interference with other subsystems attached to the vehicle body10.

Those skilled in the art will also readily recognize that, while theembodiments of our invention disclosed herein are presently consideredto be preferred, various changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, ourinvention may be used with fewer of more supplemental cross members thanare shown in the exemplary embodiment, and cross members located inpositions other than those indicated for the exemplary embodiment. Ourinvention may be used in vehicles other than convertibles, and invehicles having additional standing pillars between the forward and aftstanding pillars. Our invention may be used in vehicles having hard-toproof structures. The sequence of assembling the various parts, describedabove in relation to the exemplary embodiment, may also be changedsignificantly, to meet the needs of various assembly line operations,for assembling more or less of a vehicle body during the joiningoperation, or in a series of sub-assembly operations that may beperformed remotely from a main assembly line.

We also contemplate that a supplemental support structure according toour invention can be configured to mate with various types of roll bars,or to function as a factory installed roll cage. In such applications,we contemplate that it may be desirable to have some portion of thesupplemental support structure exposed outside of the interior trim ofthe vehicle. We also contemplate, however, that a supplemental supportstructure, according to our invention, configured as a factory installedroll cage, could be entirely hidden beneath the interior trim of avehicle.

The scope of the invention is indicated in the appended claims, and allchanges or modifications within the meaning and range of equivalents areintended to be embraced therein.

1. A method for producing a vehicle body, the method comprising:fabricating an underbody having one or more underbody bolting flangesattached thereto, with each underbody bolting flange being adapted forbolted attachment to a mating bodyside bolting flange; fabricating abodyside including a supplemental bodyside support structure havingattached thereto one or more bodyside bolting flanges, with eachbodyside bolting flange being adapted for bolted attachment to one ofthe underbody bolting flanges; attaching the underbody to the bodyside;bolting the one or more underbody flanges to a mating bodyside boltingflange; fabricating a bodyside subassembly; fabricating the bodysidesubassembly to include a sill joining a hinge pillar to a B-pillar, anA-pillar extending upwardly from the hinge pillar, and a quarter paneldefining a beltline extending from the B-pillar to a D-pillar areadefined by the quarter panel; fabricating the supplemental bodysidesupport structure to include a sill member joining a hinge pillar memberto a B-pillar member, an A-pillar member extending upwardly from thehinge pillar member, and a quarter panel member extending along thebeltline from the B-pillar member of the supplemental bodyside supportstructure to the D-pillar area; and joining the supplemental bodysidesupport to the bodyside subassembly to form the bodyside.
 2. The methodof claim 1, further comprising attaching the underbody to the bodysideby welding the bodyside to the underbody.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising painting the vehicle body prior to bolting the one ormore underbody bolting flanges to a mating bodyside bolting flange. 4.The method of claim 2, further comprising painting the vehicle bodyafter bolting thy one or more underbody bolting flanges to a matingbodyside bolting flange.
 5. The method claim 1, further comprising:fabricating the vehicle body to include a front and a rear end thereofand, and to define a vertically oriented central plane extendinglongitudinally along the vehicle body from the front to the rear endsthereat; and to further define one or more offset planes extendingparallel to the central plane; and adapting the underbody boltingflanges and the bodyside bolting flanges for mating with one anotheralong one or more of the one or more offset planes.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising, fabricating the supplemental bodysidesupport structure to include tabs extending therefrom and attaching thesupplemental bodyside support structure to the bodyside subassembly byspot welding the tabs extending from the bodyside support structure tothe bodyside subassembly.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprisingfabricating the underbody to include one or more supplemental underbodycross members each having an underbody bolting flange attached thereto.8. The method of claim 7, further comprising fabricating eachsupplemental bodyside cross member to include tabs extending therefromand attaching the supplemental cross member to the underbody by spotwelding the tabs extending from the supplemental cross member to theunderbody.